Houston: Forsythe Racing Friday notes

FORSYTHE ATLANTIC TRACK PACK READY FOR FAST TRAC 100 AT THE GRAND PRIX OF
HOUSTON
HOUSTON, Texas -- May 12, 2006 -- The first event at a
brand-new circuit is always a question mark for the drivers and teams of
the Yokohama Presents the Champ...

HOUSTON, Texas -- May 12, 2006 -- The first event at a
brand-new circuit is always a question mark for the drivers and teams of
the Yokohama Presents the Champ Car Atlantic Championship Powered by
Mazda, but Forsythe Championship Racing's Atlantic squad of Andreas
Wirth, Richard Philippe, Leonardo Maia and James Hinchcliffe got in the
groove quickly here in Texas. Their fast start on Day One was negated
somewhat during today's final round of Qualifying as the session
was disrupted by numerous Red Flag incidents that kept many drivers from
improving on their times from yesterday, including all four Forsythe
drivers.

John Brunner

Team Manager
"It's too bad we had so many Red Flags. We found a few
things last night that we thought would let us move up through the grid a
bit, but it was just one of those chaotic sessions where you have to be
really lucky to improve even though the track was probably much faster.
Only a couple of guys improved their times so I guess it all evens out,
but it's a shame when we don't at least get the opportunity
to go faster."

"I'm not very happy. We had the car to battle for the pole
but every time I went out on the track a Red Flag would come out and
everyone would have to come back on pit lane! It's frustrating
when through no fault of your own you don't get to show what you
can do. But we have a good starting spot for Saturday night's race
so it will be ok."

"I went out and immediately had a gearbox issue. I came back in
and the guys thrashed to try and fix it but we ran out of time.
I've never been so happy to see all those Red Flags, but I'm
sure I'm the only guy on the team that feels that way! We had bad
luck on the car but good luck on the track so for me at least it could
have been a lot worse. I could easily have been sitting here watching
those guys push me way down the grid. So, it's not how you plan it
but it worked out pretty well in my case. I'll have a good car for
the race and it should be a great event!"

"Very, very frustrating. You get all amped up for a session and
then you just go in and out of pit lane over and over. The car felt much
better today so I think we had a chance to move up but we'll never
know. But, I'm happy that the car seems like it's going to
be good for the race so I guess I can't complain too much.
I'll be looking to get a good start and try to stay out of trouble.
It's difficult to pass here but I think there are going to be a
lot of accidents so who knows where I could end up?"

"That pretty much sucked. I was working on finding clear space on
the track but it seems like every time a Red Flag came out somebody had
jumped in front of me on the leaderboard, so I fell down the order a
bunch of spots. The car felt good; the guys found a few things that made
it better under braking so I was feeling pretty aggressive but there was
no way to put a lap together out there today. But it is what it is, so
I'll just have to try to do what I did in Long Beach and wait for
the race to come back to me. A top ten finish is very possible so
I'll just try to stay out of trouble and see what happens."

The Fast Trac 100 gets underway at 5:15pm local/CT (6:15pm ET, 22:15 UTC)
and can be followed live on the Internet with Race Director, available at
the Champ Car Atlantic website. SPEED TV will broadcast the race on a
tape-delayed basis on Saturday, May 20th at 1pm ET. For more
information, please visit the Atlantic website at
www.champcaratlantic.com.